POLICE have warned that the feud between rival gangs in the district which caused mayhem around Windhill and Shipley recently is not over.

Those who live in Windhill where shots rang out, a car was smashed into a garden and vehicles were set on fire in West Royd Drive and Haslam Grove recently, were invited to air their views to police at a meeting in Windhill Community Centre this evening.

It had been called by Bradford Council and was chaired by its leader and councillor for Windhill and Wrose, Susan Hinchcliffe.

Police officers answering questions were Sergeant John Tootill and PC James Preston.

Sgt Tootill told the 50-strong audience that there was a lot of behind the scenes work going on to try and stop the shootings and arson attacks.

"They appear to be rival gangs from West Royd, Eccleshill and Thorpe Edge. It is believed to be all drugs related," he said.

He added that six people had been arrested and one charged. The others had been released pending further inquiries or on conditional bail.

"All the people involved, bar two, have been arrested."

When asked if it was safe for residents he said: "I don't think this feud is over, but hopefully there will be some significant sentences come out of this.

"They were targeted attacks so there are no risks to you, apart from in terms of vehicles chasing around.

Police have been tasked to patrol the area.

"There are undercover operations going on and lots of inquiries being made. I can't give you details of these, though," he said.

Residents also expressed their concerns about speeding traffic and reckless motorbike riders who were making it impossible for children to play out.

One resident said her young son and daughter witnessed a neighbour's car being set on fire and her daughter had been petrified they would be attacked ever since.

"We have had contact from victim support but my daughter is still absolutely petrified. She won't leave my side because she things they are going to come to our house," said the mother.

PC James Preston said he was trying to build up a picture of the area but needed help from residents who were not giving him any information.

"An information flow can help us. The police are doing all they can but they need help. I appreciate people feel intimidated and there are families who try and intimidate others, but you can give information anonymously so we can build up a picture. A bit of intelligence would be good," he said.

Residents said they saw people videoing the crashed and flaming cars and laughing. They disappeared as soon as the police arrived but had already taken things out of the crashed Shogun.

"Police took 40 minutes to get here," said one. That is too long to respond.

Sgt Tootill said specialist police had to be deployed for safety reasons and said he believed the response was faster than 40 minutes.

Other topics raised included restarting a Neighbourhood Watch group and revitalising Shipley Street Reps which helps with community issues but which needs more people to come on board because it was in danger of folding.